Expectations preceding President Obama’s recently completed trip to China were quite low. In the days before his departure, the chattering classes in America were loudly singing a chorus of doom and gloom regarding both the American leader’s policies and his country’s relationship to the Middle Kingdom. It seemed Obama was heading to his own, and America’s, funeral in Asia. All that was waiting for him in Beijing was China’s increasingly confident and blunt leader, Xi Jinping, who would surely be ready to shovel dirt upon the U.S. coffin.
Predictions of Obama’s doom were bolstered earlier in the week by Xi’s behavior toward his Japanese counterpart, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. During a staged handshake between the two men, the Chinese leader breached diplomatic protocols and allowed his face to show utter disdain and contempt toward Abe. To be fair, Japan’s top politician reciprocated. The result was an almost comical, icy stare down that looked like it was out of the old World Wrestling Federation.
Given this context, anything less than an outright humiliation at the hands of the Chinese would have been a victory on the part of this greatly diminished American leader. However, a funny thing happened on the way to this anticipated denouement.
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